Re: [Harp-L] Johnson Laredo

[Special20 <special20harp@xxxxxxxxx>]

Walter-

I heard a buddy play harp through a Johnson Laredo a couple years ago, and
it sounded pretty impressive.  I can't say it was full-on Little Walterish,
but it broke up around 3 or 4 and was nice and crunchy.  I don't know if he
swapped tubes or otherwise modified it, but I don't think so because he
didn't mention anything like that even after I told him how great it
sounded.  Harp players usually love to talk about their killer amp mods.

He was using a newer JT-30 with the ceramic element.  As I say, it sounded
impressive to my ears and I seriously considered picking up a Johnson Laredo
but I'm kind of fixed for small tube amps and I generally prefer vintage.
What mic are you using?  What are your settings?

-Spec20


On Fri, Feb 15, 2008 at 10:21 AM, Walter Joyce <wtjoyce45@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

>
> I own a Johnson Laredo.
>
> First let me say that the sound I like is the Chicago blues sound,
> especially the sound Little Walter had on many of his recordings.
>
> As I understand it, a key component in getting that tone is getting the
> power tubes in your amp to start breaking up a bit, to give the sound that
> raw cutting quality. As a result of the modern manufacturing of amps like
> the Johnson, there is a solid state component that will limit this overload
> of the power amp tubes. I have also been told that by switching out preamp
> tubes to lower the amplification power of the preamp tubes, the result will
> be a greater possibility of getting the power tubes to overload and start to
> break up.
>
> The reason I wrote of of this is that I found that I was not able to get
> that tone from the Johnson amp. I may try switching the preamp tubes, but
> haven't yet.
>
> IF you are not looking for the same raw edge that I prefer for most of my
> playing, then the Johnson is a cool little amp, nice clean tone and a good
> value for the money.
>
> Walter Joyce
>
>
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